Consumer Products Companies are Seeking Less Shelf Space

For companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Henkel, it’s no longer about simply dominating the shelves at major retailers. It’s about doubling down on their products that are flying off the shelves.

“Less will be much more,” the company’s CEO A.G. Lafley said on a conference call Thursday.

P&G is just one of many consumer products companies seeking to spend time and money building the “it” brands rather than simply selling a whole slew of brands.

David Reibstein, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said that companies like P&G are focusing on how they can find organic growth.

“There’s a recognition that they haven’t gotten the growth they anticipated,” Mr. Reibstein said. Now he said the thought is to redeploy resources more selectively into specific brands to fuel growth both in those particular products and overall rather than spreading their resources more thinly across a broader portfolio.

P&G appears to be following the lead of its smaller rivals — Henkel and Unilever, which have both focused on shedding brands in recent years.

“The balance has tilted toward fewer, bigger brands spanning many product categories,” wrote Harvard Business School professor John Deighton in an email, adding that consumer product companies have become more savvy about brand management.

P&G, he notes, has been able to build out Gillette successfully since its 2005 acquisition. “It’s bigger, broader and more global than in 2005, working harder for Procter than it could for a smaller parent.”

Here’s a look at what major consumer products companies have been selling:

Between 2010 and 2011, Unilever boosted its personal-care business by acquiring Sara Lee’s personal care business and Alberto Culver.

Henkel AG & Co.: In late 2012, the company said it planned to discontinue or divest businesses with total sales of roughly €500 million. Henkel has said it wants to strengthen and expand its leading positions in key brands, while